Identify genes that give sugar cane more resistance against drought
Identify genes that give sugar cane more resistance against drought
Identify genes that give sugar cane more resistance against drought
The lack of water availability during the development of sugarcane constitutes a type of environmental stress that generates important negative effects on this plant. With the aim of providing it with greater resistance to water stress, scientists from various institutions in Brazil have tried to develop varieties of sugarcane better adapted to drought conditions in recent years.
A group of researchers from the Institute of Biology at the University of Campinas (Unicamp), in collaboration with peers from Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), from Belgium, led by researcher Dirk Inzé, has taken an important step in this regard. The scientists identified a set of five genes that, when activated permanently, can give sugarcane greater tolerance against drought.
The results of this study, carried out with the support of the Support Foundation for Scientific Research of the State of São Paulo-FAPESP within the framework of the FAPESP Program of Bioenergy Research (BIOEN), were announced during a conference on October 8 at FAPESP Week Belgium. This event, which took place in the Belgian Center for Comics, was organized by FAPESP together with the following Belgian organizations: FRS-FNRS, the Department of Economy, Science and Innovation (EWI), the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO) and the Wallonie-Brussels International (WBI).
"We submitted the patent for those genes last month. And now we intend to analyze them in transgenic sugarcane plants. Then we will license them to interested companies, "said Marcelo Menossi Teixeira, IB-Unicamp teacher and project coordinator.
Sugar cane. (Photo: Eduardo Cesar / Pesquisa FAPESP)
The research that resulted in the identification of genes was launched in 2007. That year, a group of scientists from the Institute of Chemistry of the University of São Paulo (IQ-USP) coordinated by Professor Gláucia Mendes Souza began a tending study to analyze genes expressed in a variety of sugarcane planted in the Brazilian state of Alagoas, in the northeast of the country, under drought conditions. The team of Professor Laurício Endres, from the Federal University of Alagoas, was in charge of carrying out this experiment.
The analysis of gene expression revealed the existence of hundreds of genes expressed differently in sugarcane and responding to water stress. By characterizing them, the researchers detected that some of those genes were more activated.
Given that it would take several years to confirm in the field the role of the candidate genes in transgenic varieties of sugarcane, the researchers put into practice the idea of testing some of these genes in tobacco, which is also planted in drought conditions. It happens that this species takes only between seven and eight months to grow, and its handling is easier compared to sugarcane, Menossi explained.
Through a collaboration with Belgian peers, Brazilian researchers also tested the genes in wild mustard (Arabidopsis thaliana), a plant widely used as a model in genetic studies.
The analyzes of the transgenic plants cultivated with the overexpressed genes confirmed that they provided greater resistance to oxidative stress and drought.
"We found that sugar cane activates these five genes when it is under water stress conditions in order to protect itself against such a drought situation," said Menossi.
"Our idea is to make genetic modifications in the plant, in such a way to permanently activate those genes, and thus leave the plant prepared for a drought situation, that is: to exhibit a better performance in such conditions," he said.
In laboratory tests, the researchers confirmed that transgenic varieties of sugarcane with some of those genes in constant activation state exhibited greater tolerance to drought.
"Our goal is to obtain a transgenic sugarcane capable of withstanding long periods of time without irrigation and showing rapid growth," said Menossi. (Source: AGENCIA FAPESP / DICYT)
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